House to Vote on Plan to Cut Red Tape for Small, Fast-Growing Companies

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The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a plan to help small companies with big ambitions. The Fostering Innovation Act of 2017 (H.R. 1645) wins praise from Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Berlau:

In an era of partisan bickering, the Fostering Innovation Act of 2017 (H.R. 1645) sponsored by Rep Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and scheduled for a House vote today shows Democrats and Republicans can come together to cut red tape for small and fast-growing companies. The bill builds on the progress of the bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, signed by President Obama in 2012, to allow more companies to be exempt from burdensome provisions of Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley and other securities laws during their first years as a public company. Even the limited relief of the JOBS Act has resulted in success for investors, entrepreneurs and job creation, and in life-saving benefits to society as a whole. According to the Biotechnology industry Organization, biotech firms that have gone public under JOBS Act provisions currently have 696 therapies in development, and the Food and Drug Administration has approved 18 new treatments from JOBS Act companies. By lifting even more barriers to startups and emerging growth firms, H.R. 1645 will result in even more life-saving and life-improving innovation.

The bill would extend the exemption from onerous Sarbanes-Oxley auditing requirements for Emerging Growth Companies. That change would free up emerging, successful small businesses to spend more time on growing their business and less on regulatory compliance and make it easier for small firms to access the capital they need to grow.